RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on RLJ. KeyCorp reduced their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.68.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of RLJ opened at $7.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.50. RLJ Lodging Trust has a fifty-two week low of $6.16 and a fifty-two week high of $10.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $7.67 and a 200 day moving average of $9.07.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $328.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $328.08 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.12%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is presently 222.22%.

Insider Transactions at RLJ Lodging Trust

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.03 per share, for a total transaction of $80,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 124,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 282,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 222,411 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,755,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 1,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 13,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 2,624 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company's portfolio currently consists of 96 hotels with approximately 21,200 rooms, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia and an ownership interest in one unconsolidated hotel with 171 rooms.